<p>India is her first inheritance. Sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar is marking another homecoming with her six-city tour across the country. With two 2026 Grammy nominations — for her Chapter III: We Return to Light album, and ‘Daybreak’ — the world-renowned artiste now has a total of 13 Grammy nominations. The daughter of Indian classical legend Pt Ravi Shankar, Anoushka has also made her mark as a film composer, a passionate activist, and an actor. Her milestone India Tour celebrates 30 years of live performance. Excerpts from an interview</p>.<p><strong>What’s your state of mind right now?</strong></p>.<p>Pretty alert, focused and calm. Coming to India is always a punctuation point in my global sojourns. It feels like a homecoming, each time.</p>.<p>How has the journey been in the world of music so far?</p>.<p>Honestly, it is impossible to paraphrase 30 years of anything! I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do this for three decades, without feeling like an old woman (laughs). I started very young, and that brought along a certain level of craziness, incredible learning and opportunities. I have been working hard all my life, and have always wanted to keep growing and exploring. Every project feels like a new opportunity to find a new sound, rediscover my sitar.</p>.Kacheri Gang: Trio fusing classical styles to create new sound.<p>From Anoushka in 1998 — your first album — to the culmination of the Chapters trilogy in 2025: how did it feel wrapping up Chapter III: We Return to Light?</p>.<p>I’ve never released an album in a series like this earlier. The process has been time-consuming, and I am relishing the feeling of this payoff at the end. I remember sitting on the beach with my diary, planning the series with different collaborators inside my head, forming the band... It is gratifying to see it come to fruition.</p>.<p><strong>What does the sitar mean to you?</strong></p>.<p>The sitar means everything to me. I love it deeply. It is my best friend, it is what I speak through, and what takes me to so many places across the world, letting me learn about my own culture, other cultures. The sitar has given me discipline and craft.</p>.<p><strong>How do you think the music industry has evolved over the years?</strong></p>.<p>I started as a teenager in the world of music in the 90s, and the nature of misogyny and sexism has since shifted — it was worse in the 90s. Now there are relevant conversations around mental health and what it takes out of artistes to do what we do. There is a meaningful dialogue that goes beyond cliches like ‘tortured artistes’ and ‘the show must go on’.</p>.<p><strong>As a sitarist, what is the biggest influence your father wielded on the shaping of your journey?</strong></p>.<p>There is an ephemeral way of answering this. By simply being with my father, I got a deep insight into a long-term, intimate view of the craft and process of playing the sitar. He was so humble and spiritually connected to music. For him, it was an infinite journey in the music world, and it never reached a point where he felt he had learnt it all. As a child, sitting with him as a student sits with a master, I have learnt that the journey never ends.</p>.<p>He taught me discipline and a methodical way of teaching. My training has brought in an incredible music memory. This is pivotal when I dip into my repertoire and switch between genres fluidly on stage. </p>.<p><strong>What has been your biggest challenge?</strong></p>.<p>There have been many challenges. Leading a high-pressure, public life. Working consistently through depletion, heartache, grief, breakdown…There have been difficult moments through single parenting, coming through addiction, being the single child of my mother, meeting the expectations people have of me by virtue of being Pandit Ravi Shankar’s daughter, leading an unusual life across continents…It has been an ongoing journey.</p>.<p><strong>What is the most Indian aspect about you?</strong></p>.<p>My connection to our heritage and Indian classical music. There has been a deep immersion in the dance world and mythology because of my parental influence. I can be very dramatic and catastrophising like an Indian mother — by exclaiming to my kids that there can be an accident if they aren’t careful crossing the road, as opposed to simply cautioning them to look left and right before crossing!</p>.<p><strong>Your deepest learning in life?</strong></p>.<p>The chaos of life cannot be put in boxes. Go with the flow, adapt as you move.</p>
<p>India is her first inheritance. Sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar is marking another homecoming with her six-city tour across the country. With two 2026 Grammy nominations — for her Chapter III: We Return to Light album, and ‘Daybreak’ — the world-renowned artiste now has a total of 13 Grammy nominations. The daughter of Indian classical legend Pt Ravi Shankar, Anoushka has also made her mark as a film composer, a passionate activist, and an actor. Her milestone India Tour celebrates 30 years of live performance. Excerpts from an interview</p>.<p><strong>What’s your state of mind right now?</strong></p>.<p>Pretty alert, focused and calm. Coming to India is always a punctuation point in my global sojourns. It feels like a homecoming, each time.</p>.<p>How has the journey been in the world of music so far?</p>.<p>Honestly, it is impossible to paraphrase 30 years of anything! I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do this for three decades, without feeling like an old woman (laughs). I started very young, and that brought along a certain level of craziness, incredible learning and opportunities. I have been working hard all my life, and have always wanted to keep growing and exploring. Every project feels like a new opportunity to find a new sound, rediscover my sitar.</p>.Kacheri Gang: Trio fusing classical styles to create new sound.<p>From Anoushka in 1998 — your first album — to the culmination of the Chapters trilogy in 2025: how did it feel wrapping up Chapter III: We Return to Light?</p>.<p>I’ve never released an album in a series like this earlier. The process has been time-consuming, and I am relishing the feeling of this payoff at the end. I remember sitting on the beach with my diary, planning the series with different collaborators inside my head, forming the band... It is gratifying to see it come to fruition.</p>.<p><strong>What does the sitar mean to you?</strong></p>.<p>The sitar means everything to me. I love it deeply. It is my best friend, it is what I speak through, and what takes me to so many places across the world, letting me learn about my own culture, other cultures. The sitar has given me discipline and craft.</p>.<p><strong>How do you think the music industry has evolved over the years?</strong></p>.<p>I started as a teenager in the world of music in the 90s, and the nature of misogyny and sexism has since shifted — it was worse in the 90s. Now there are relevant conversations around mental health and what it takes out of artistes to do what we do. There is a meaningful dialogue that goes beyond cliches like ‘tortured artistes’ and ‘the show must go on’.</p>.<p><strong>As a sitarist, what is the biggest influence your father wielded on the shaping of your journey?</strong></p>.<p>There is an ephemeral way of answering this. By simply being with my father, I got a deep insight into a long-term, intimate view of the craft and process of playing the sitar. He was so humble and spiritually connected to music. For him, it was an infinite journey in the music world, and it never reached a point where he felt he had learnt it all. As a child, sitting with him as a student sits with a master, I have learnt that the journey never ends.</p>.<p>He taught me discipline and a methodical way of teaching. My training has brought in an incredible music memory. This is pivotal when I dip into my repertoire and switch between genres fluidly on stage. </p>.<p><strong>What has been your biggest challenge?</strong></p>.<p>There have been many challenges. Leading a high-pressure, public life. Working consistently through depletion, heartache, grief, breakdown…There have been difficult moments through single parenting, coming through addiction, being the single child of my mother, meeting the expectations people have of me by virtue of being Pandit Ravi Shankar’s daughter, leading an unusual life across continents…It has been an ongoing journey.</p>.<p><strong>What is the most Indian aspect about you?</strong></p>.<p>My connection to our heritage and Indian classical music. There has been a deep immersion in the dance world and mythology because of my parental influence. I can be very dramatic and catastrophising like an Indian mother — by exclaiming to my kids that there can be an accident if they aren’t careful crossing the road, as opposed to simply cautioning them to look left and right before crossing!</p>.<p><strong>Your deepest learning in life?</strong></p>.<p>The chaos of life cannot be put in boxes. Go with the flow, adapt as you move.</p>